Erdogan threatens to "military operation" in Syria

Turkey threatened to use "military force" to counter what it described as the "risks" resulting from the fighting in the Syrian Idlib governorate.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Russia of supporting the Syrian government in committing "atrocities" against its people, while the Syrian army continued fighting to restore some areas from the control of the opposition militants.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians fled the government’s advance. Erdogan is afraid of trying to cross the border into Turkish territory.

He said that his country could not tolerate a new wave of displaced persons, stressing that it stood idly by in front of this threat.

The Syrian government forces announced the restoration of control of the strategic city of Maarat al-Numan in Idlib Governorate.

According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, violent clashes erupted between opposition fighters and government forces in Ma`rat al-Numan, and the Syrian army imposed full control of the city.

Ma`rat al-Numan, the second largest city of Idlib governorate, is located on the main highway linking the capital, Damascus, with the city of Aleppo in northern Syria.

The government's forces campaign to retake Idlib, the last bastion of opposition fighters, has caused a wave of displacement for thousands of civilians, most of them women and children, towards the border with Turkey that supports some of the fighting opposition factions.